Pedagogy and Academic Leadership

Staff Professional Learning

Last Tuesday afternoon, our Senior and Junior School teaching staff gathered for a dynamic professional learning session. Armed with our expertise and diverse teaching repertoire, we tackled the ever-lively media debate on explicit and inquiry-based teaching, unpacking how these approaches are often framed as opposing forces. 

Rather than being drawn into the binaries set up in public debate, we took a more nuanced approach, exploring how both direct instruction and inquiry learning can (and should) work in tandem to create rich, effective learning experiences. Our discussions focused on the role of explicit teaching in setting clear learning goals, gauging what students already know, and breaking down complex skills into manageable steps, creating a solid foundation for deeper learning. From this foundation, we explored how students are better able to springboard into inquiry-based learning, where they engage in questioning, experimentation, and collaboration to deepen their understanding and take a more active role in the learning process.

Our Loreto staff shared concrete strategies and best-practice examples from their own classrooms, highlighting how thoughtful sequencing of lessons and units can harness the strengths of both methods. What made the session truly valuable was the depth of professional exchange. Across different disciplines and year levels, staff contributed their insights and experiences, creating a shared pool of knowledge that will undoubtedly enrich our teaching. 

Taking the time to engage in professional dialogue - challenging assumptions, exchanging ideas, and refining our practice - reinforces what we already know: great teaching is not about choosing one methodology over another but about blending strategies to serve our students best. 

As we step back into our classrooms, this session has offered renewed inspiration and practical insights to refine our craft, ensuring that our students benefit from teaching that is both rigorous and responsive, structured and exploratory, explicit and inquiry-driven.

Mel Pedavoli

Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Academic Leadership